With one of the most food-centric holidays of the year having just wrapped (though I’m still enjoying spectacular turkey sandwiches), I am spending this weekend eagerly packing for Italy. Switching gears from turkey to pasta, you could say, to take part in a conference that will surely be the global epicenter next week of the dialogue surrounding three critical issues of our time: the relationship between nutrition, sustainability and agriculture. The food week to Milan's fashion week!

If you read my blog regularly, you’re already aware that our food choices and dietary lifestyles are having a tremendous impact on the environmental equilibrium of our planet. And the alarming reality is that globally, less-sustainable eating models continue to emerge at a rapid pace. Farming activity is now responsible for producing about 33% of the world’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions, as well as approximately 70% of the water resources humans use. While I am a big fan of what you can do personally to instill change (i.e. going vegetarian just two days a week, buying organic or fair trade coffee), our hyper-connected world means that this global crisis requires active dialogue across countries and disciplines, as well as specific, concrete solutions that can be implemented quickly and economically.

Which is why I was so honored to be invited to this conference, hosted by The Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition, a leading global thought leader in this space. *. The 3rd International Forum on Food and Nutrition gathers international experts to Milan for two days of robust debate and discussion on just these types of questions. Water and agricultural policies, food waste, food chain challenges, access to food, biotechnologies, and the double paradox of globalization (obesity and malnutrition) are all on the agenda, and more.

They have drawn together truly a top tier panel of internationally renown experts across a wide swath of these topics, and I hope you’ll check backoften as I’ll be blogging daily about the sessions, and covering real time comments and debates through my Facebook page, as well as my twitter handle @greeneating and the hashtag #BCFNForum. My goal is to capture for you all of this and more... while savoring some fantastic pasta dishes along the way.

My next post will be from Italy!

Want to follow the conference? I hope you'll participate in the conversation: